How to Upgrade Your Opencart Store to Opencart Latest Version 3

The procedures mentioned here are based on the best practices followed by Opencart experts. There are some specific set of activities that need t be followed when looking at upgrading your Opencart platform.

Major Areas to Consider with Opencart Version Upgrade

The main areas which get impacted when Opencart version is upgraded are

Core File Changes

Theme Update

Extensions / Modules Update

Data Migration

You must be 100% sure that your Opencart store CORE code has not been tampered with and no change has been done there. In case any change is done there you stand to lose all such changes. In case changes have been done to the core for customization (which is a very bad practice) those changes will have to be identified and will have to be planned to be implemented in the upgraded version but as modifications & extensions without touching the core.

With the upgrade in version the main focus is to upgrade the system and not the look and feel; as customers have a brand image that no one want to start from scratch.

Extensions & modules should work and behave as per their expected behavior.

For ecommerce data is THE most vital part and you will want all the data to be moved as is to the updated version.

However to make upgrades and changes a well laid plan is required along with an eye to know multiple case scenarios that may arise. Some of those cases are described below here in detail.

Opencart Theme Upgrade

Case Scenario 1

In case you bought a theme, good news is that most of the paid themes have updates and most possibly you may find that your theme also have updates and has been upgraded to be compatible with the latest version of Opencart. This is a big relief as it not only saves cost and effort but also help you keep the same UI/UX for your Opencart store.

Case Scenario 2

In case you have a custom theme which was based on custom design that was created by your team (internal / outsourced) then you will not have the update to newer version and design has to be used again to create theme for the new version.

Case Scenario 3

Many times themes come with extensions or extensions are purchased along with theme; in such scenario these extensions will also have to be updated to be compatible with the new theme and you may also want similar customization options in admin panel for such extensions thus leading to cost increase as part of the Opencart version upgrade.

Case Scenario 4

In case the existing look and feel is not much of a concern for your store then the best case is to buy a new them comaptibel with the latest version and believe it or not this will be the cheapest option.

Opencart Extension / Module / Plugin Updates

Case Scenario 1

If you have bought an extension you will see most of them provide their extension for the newer and latest version of Opencart. Go ahead and check if the new version is available.

Case Scenario 2

In case the extension you bought now does not provide the updated on for new version then someone has to be hired to get the update done.

Case Scenario 3

Depending on Cost Benefit analysis you can decide whether you want to go ahead and get the changes done to your old extension or go ahead and get a new one with similar functionality which provides support and compatibility with new version of Opencart.

Data Migration

One of the most crucial and a complex task is data migration from older version to the latest version.

Case Scenario 1

Some extensions create or gather more data with time; like an extension or module that saves customer data or adds a new field to products. In such case new or additional tables or columns are created in database that might not be available in the newer version of Opencart by default. In such a scenario first a similar extension update has to be installed on the newer Opencart version and then data should be migrated.

Case Scenario 2

If no extension is used or there has not been any change in database structure then data migration will be standard step by step process based on target and source versions.

Case Scenario 3

In case you do not want some of previous data to be migrated or want some data this is the right time to reduce some of the load on your database